TN Senate Cmt. To Consider Bill Requiring Disclosure Of Campus Court Records


For Immediate Release January 27, 2004

TN Senate Cmt. To Consider Bill Requiring Disclosure Of Campus Court Records

Nashville, TN-The Tennessee state Senate Education Committee will consider legislation at their 8:30 AM Wednesday meeting requiring public colleges and universities to disclose the final results of campus disciplinary action when a student is found to have broken school rules in connection with an alleged crime of violence or non-forcible sex offense.

SB 2098, sponsored by Senator Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville), is designed to ensure that colleges disclose this information following Attorney General Opinion No. 03-139 which held that existing law only allowed, rather than required disclosure. HB 2207, the companion bill sponsored by Representative Harry Brooks (R-Knoxville), has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

"Tennessee's students deserve to know if they are sharing their class or dorm room, or are even considering dating someone who has been found responsible for committing a violent act," said S. Daniel Carter, a Knoxville based nationally recognized campus safety expert. Carter, of the non-profit organization Security On Campus, Inc. added that "this legislation will help students make better informed decisions about avoiding future victimization, and help ensure that students are treated fairly in typically secret campus court proceedings."

In 1998 Congress amended federal student privacy laws to allow states to require this type of disclosure, and Tennessee initially took advantage of that last year until the Attorney General's opinion held that schools didn't have to release the records.

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